NP Recommends – Why we love Management by Duffers

There are moments in office when we feel like killing our bosses, right? No, don’t deny it. We aren’t suggesting that you do. That said, whenever you do feel that way, we hope you pick up Management by Duffers. It contains business humour and is filled with quips and cartoons one can laugh out loud to. The jokes are specific but universal, therefore relatable.

Excerpt:

Remember when the CEO makes a flaw it is an aberration, when the executive makes a flaw it is oversight, when a supervisor makes a flaw it is an error and when a workman makes a flaw it is sabotage.

Remember highly skilled craftsmen are always workers while highly unskilled crafty men are always in Management.

Mentoring is the art of explaining to your subordinate that your company is the finest because of your efforts even while you have not got the due recognition.

The proof of you having worked is based on what your boss sees as what’s left of his work.

Why we love Management by Duffers

Author Balasubramaniam seems to have a clear understanding of the corporate culture thanks to years of experience in the industry. But only a shrewd observer can come out with jokes that everyone can relate to. Balasubramaniam is clearly one such shrewd observer. Also, this book makes you realize that it’s easy to cope with difficult situations when you’re able to laugh about it. The book is filled with snippets written in simple language with illustrations that remind you of the Vodafone Zoo zoos. They instantly strike a chord and at 130 pages it does not take more than an hour to skim through!

Reading this book once would not be enough as this is a book that one would like go back to often and even more so after a bad day involving the bosses at our workplaces. This is one of those books that belong on your work desk. Pick this up, open any page to have a laugh on a particularly stressful day.

You will love it if: you love the comic strip Dilbert created by Scott Adams, books like Scott Adams’ The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eyeview of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions, Jessica Bennett’s Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace; movies like Office Space, Horrible Bosses, and 9 to 5, (remade in Tamil as Magalir Mattum (1994) starring Kamal Haasan and Revathi.)

Ravi Kiran

When not canvassing for movies through his passionately written reviews, he would love to read a book, listening to his favourite film scores in a quaint cafe. Having happily migrated from the world of insurance, he finds solace in the world of books and listening to the stories of passionate people. He has founded a writing club, Thirsty Pens, to help passionate writers nurture their writing. Prefers the solitude in the mornings cycling to Marina followed by a good cup of filter kaapi.